Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

Chapter 1398. Plucking all her Petals

The room she was led to was wide and tiled with yellowish marble. It was no arena, but big enough for a little duel. The beautiful female warrior had taken her position at the opposite side of the room.

Excitement washed over her body like a slight electric shock as she looked at the slender woman. She grasped her whip tightly. How long had it been since she was able to enjoy the suffering of such a sweet little thing? She was lucky that she was so easily provoked.

She chuckled to herself. Just comparing her to the big oaf was enough, and not even Paolo could stop her now. She would thoroughly enjoy deconstructing this little flower and plucking all her petals, one by one. Licking her tensed whip, she enjoyed the cold look her opponent gave her. It would be so arousing to break that stubborn gaze and-

“Are you ready?” the girl, Faenys, asked with a voice as cold as a glacier. The angel leader looked her in the eyes and halted for a moment. These eyes were not just cold, but there was a cruelty in them that had her take a second look. This was going to get better than expected.

“Yes,” she answered, cracking her whip and already summoning the pack into the shadows of the room, ready to jump the girl. They would rip away her shiny armor and defile that pale, perfect-

“Good. Then letʼs begin,” the girl said with a cruel tone and a cold smile. She unsheathed her single-edge sword, and in a smooth, circular motion, the blade grew to the size of a longsword and scratched the tiles of the floor.

“Domain of-”

She didnʼt get the rest of the sentence. She had given the command to the wolves to attack, but the whole room had suddenly vanished. Standing in a vast, all-encompassing twilight, she was suddenly all alone.

All connections were lost! She couldnʼt feel her bond to her creations. She couldnʼt feel the tether that connected her to Paolo. She had completely lost her connection to her creator. Her heart shuddered, and coldness crept in through the hole the missing connection to her god had left.

Had her god died? Had she abandoned them? What was she going to do now? She was alone... Her body started shaking as she faced the vast twilight, and the weight of solitude and silence was crashing down on her.

The crushing weight kept increasing as her thoughts ran in a circle for a hot moment until... Pain disrupted her thoughts. Wounds started appearing all over her body. This was not the enjoyable pain, like when Paolo... She didnʼt like this. Not at all.

The wounds that were supposed to bleed with golden blood were putrid and blackened with necrosis. They began to rot the moment they appeared. The pain was invasive, sharp, burning, and impossible to ignore.

Suddenly, she was rocked by lightning, as if hit with heavenly punishment, aggravating the pain even more. Her whole body started pulsing in pain, and she started wailing. Wailing upon her situation, wailing upon the pain. Why was this happening all of a sudden? How? Why now? Where was she? Why was she suffering like this? Her eyes opened wide when realization hit her.

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She was in a fight. Right, this had to be an illusion! There was no way her god would abandon her. Nobody could sever her bond with Paolo. The pain stayed, but the fear receded, as she gained confidence.

The twilight started flickering before her eyes, and the tiled training room appeared again. However, the moment her vision of reality returned, she bright glint and another lightning strike shot through her, throwing her to the ground.

The world was gone again. The only thing that stayed was an incomparable pain, emanating from her face, directly to her brain. Putrid blood sullied her hands as she covered her destroyed eyes that had exploded with mind-numbing pain.

...

With an ear-shattering cry, the angel broke down on the floor, wailing in pain and holding her face. Faenys had cut her straight through the eyes, the moment she escaped the illusion of fear. It was not just her eyes.

Although the deadly poison had not taken effect, her whole body was covered in rotting wounds, oozing a stinking pus. The rest of the room was littered with the bodies of maimed shadow wolves, each missing a couple of limbs.

Looking at it now, after venting her emotions, Faenys considered whether she may have gone a little too far. Then she remembered the way the bitch had looked at her right before the duel and decided that she had gone just far enough to teach her a valuable lesson.

She had deliberately asked Paolo beforehand whether he would be able to heal her as long as she was alive, and he had said yes. The angel had turned into a crying pile of misery, buuuut she was not dead. If she wanted to kill her, it would have been over with the first attack.

“This should be enough. You can heal them now, Paolo,” Faenys generously ended the one-sided duel, after turning her opponent into a crying mess.

“Faenys, we wanted to see what the angels were able to do... This was not helpful,” Mary complained about the quick, one-sided battle.

“Sheʼs lucky I donʼt have my new armor yet. This would have been over even quicker, with the same outcome, “ she chuckled.

....

~Yes, Lady Faenys was fighting a friendly sparring match in the Upper Training Room 2 just now.~ The Tower repeated what it was trying to say before it was interrupted.

“Oh! Geez, you scared me for a moment. I already thought something had happened at the parade,” the blacksmith said, relieved. It would have been a tragedy if something had happened to Faenys just before he could give her her power-up.

~Something did indeed happen at the parade.~ The tower revealed suddenly.

The bard could only sigh. He was slowly getting annoyed by the fact that the tower only clearly answered what was asked, instead of giving a comprehensive report.

“What happened. Full report, please. Stop making me ask so many questions.”

For the next few minutes, Seth was informed about everything that happened during the parade. Paoloʼs return, the apprehension of demons, the Angel Summonerʼs story, as well as the “friendly duel” to assess the strength of the angels.

“Ugh, I will deal with that later. Call Faenys here since she is done with her duel, Tower.”

“Isnʼt it a little late? How about doing that tomorrow?” Sivri suggested.

“If she has the energy to beat someone to a pulp at this time, she can also come by and receive her new armor,” the blacksmith said with a shrug of his shoulder. He had been slaving away the whole day, while Faenys was out having fun at the parade. He wasnʼt going to show her any consideration because of the time of day.

The armor would find its owner today; otherwise, he wouldnʼt be able to sleep calmly.